Bound by More Than Blood

Althea’s POV

When I woke, the world felt… different.

I wasn’t sure at first if it was the lingering rush of pleasure—my body still aching in the most decadent ways—or something deeper. Something older. Something woven into me now.

Cassian was at my back, one hand draped over my waist, his breathing even but heavy with restrained awareness. Xanden’s head rested against my thigh, his arm curled over my stomach. I was between them, anchored by shadow and moonlight—and yet, I was the one glowing.

Literally.

My skin shimmered faintly, the silver-blue of deep water under moonlight. Siren magic. But this… this was something more.

I sat up slowly, afraid to disturb the peace—and felt it.

A pulse. Low and deep, echoing through my bones like a second heartbeat.

The bond.

It had locked into place last night, and now it was blooming.

Cassian stirred behind me with a growl. “You’re glowing, little siren.”

Xanden blinked awake next, his voice softer. “So are we.”

I turned to look. And he was right.

Cassian’s skin pulsed faintly with ember veins, like fire coiling under flesh. Xanden’s tattoos were lit with moonlight, his eyes silver-blue with magic that wasn’t just his anymore.

“I feel…” I exhaled, shivering. “Like I’ve opened a door I can’t close.”

“You didn’t open it,” Cassian said, rising from the bed with slow, dangerous grace. “You are it.”

Xanden sat up beside me, brows furrowing. “I’ve never felt anything like this before. And I’ve fought beside seers, priestesses, even starborn warriors. But this bond? It’s alive.”

He reached for my hand. I let him take it.

The moment our fingers touched, a shimmer of light spilled out—moonlight and shadow, entwined around a core of ocean-blue energy. I gasped.

“Althea…” Cassian knelt in front of me, eyes locked on the magic now rising from our bond like mist. “There are only three known triadic bondings recorded in supernatural history. And all of them ended in war. Or coronation.”

I stared at him. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying,” he growled, “this isn’t a bond of mates. It’s a trinity. Power, heart, and soul.”

“And when one is threatened…” Xanden added, voice tight with realization, “the others rise.”

I swallowed, trying to process it—but something else was stirring now. A vision. A memory that wasn’t mine—but maybe belonged to the sea. Or to blood.

I saw a throne carved of coral and bone.

A war beneath the waves.

And my mother—her siren tail silver-red, eyes glowing with the same bond-light—crying out as the tide turned against her.

I gasped and fell forward.

Cassian caught me instantly.

“What did you see?” he demanded, but his voice wasn’t angry. It was terrified.

Xanden cradled my head gently. “Althea—breathe. You’re not alone.”

And they were right.

Because whatever this was—whatever I was becoming—it wasn’t mine alone anymore.

It belonged to the three of us.

And gods help anyone who tried to tear it apart.

Althea’s POV

My skin still hummed.

The bond wasn’t just energy—it was awakening something ancient. Something feral and vast, like the bottomless trenches of the sea where light doesn’t reach. But now that I was linked to them, it wasn’t just my siren magic responding.

Cassian’s fire crackled beneath his skin, casting shadows on the walls that moved like they were alive. Xanden’s magic laced the air like threads of starlight, weaving patterns around us that pulsed in rhythm with our breath.

“We should test it,” I whispered, my voice hoarse with awe.

Cassian’s eyes narrowed. “You sure you’re ready for that, little siren?”

“Are you?”

His smirk was sharp, dangerous. “Always.”

We moved to the center of the room—bare feet on smooth stone, magic already thick as smoke in the air. It was instinct that made me raise my hands, palms open. I didn’t even have to speak. I just felt them.

Cassian stepped closer, resting his hand over mine. Heat surged through me instantly—pure power that ignited my blood like wildfire. His magic didn’t just touch mine; it devoured and kissed it all at once.

Xanden came behind me, placing his hand over my other. Cool, lunar magic flowed through my veins, countering the heat with a calming, swirling force that steadied me even as it sparked along my skin.

When their powers met inside me—chaos and calm—I almost dropped to my knees.

“Oh gods…” I gasped. “This is…”

“More than a bond,” Cassian growled. “It’s a channel.”

Xanden’s POV

I’d never seen anything like it.

Althea was radiating light and shadow at the same time, and where her power collided with ours, it formed something new—something that shimmered with iridescent edges, alive and responsive to her emotions.

She tilted her head slightly and a wave of pressure pulsed outward, knocking over the ancient candelabras at the edge of the room. She gasped and turned to me, wide-eyed.

“I didn’t mean to—”

“You didn’t have to,” I said gently, heart pounding. “You’re not using magic, Althea. You are the magic now.”

Cassian watched her with the intensity of a man confronting a divine force.

“She’s the channel,” he muttered, pacing now. “And we’re the sources. Moonlight and hellfire pouring into an ocean that never ends.”

Althea’s gaze shifted between us, and suddenly her voice was softer, rawer.

“Then what happens if one of you… pulls away?”

Cassian stopped pacing.

“I don’t think we can,” I said before he could speak. “Not without consequences.”

And I was right.

Because as Althea took a cautious step back from Cassian, the temperature in the room dropped instantly. Shadows trembled. The fire in Cassian’s veins lashed outward, nearly uncontrolled. His fists clenched.

She reached for him again—and the chaos settled.

The magic was demanding unity.

Cassian’s POV

I hated how vulnerable this made me feel.

I didn’t do weakness. I didn’t do fate.

But when Althea stepped away from me—even for a second—it felt like someone had ripped the soul from my chest.

And when she came back?

My magic didn’t just calm. It purred.

“You’re the anchor,” I said to her. “To both of us. To this whole damn thing.”

She looked terrified. And gods, that scared me more than anything else.

“Do you understand what that means?” I asked her, stepping closer. “If you die—”

“We all fall,” Xanden said quietly, finishing the thought.

She shivered. “Then I guess we better keep me alive.”

I looked at her—this soft, stunning, dangerous creature between us—and knew, without a doubt, I would tear realms apart to protect her.

The bond was sealed.

But it was only beginning to burn.